Category: News

Washington — The U.S. has quietly moved away from insisting that Hamas fully disarm before a major reconstruction push begins in the Gaza Strip. U.S. officials now say the disarmament issue will be delayed, allowing billions in reconstruction funds and humanitarian aid to flow more quickly. The shift comes after months of warnings from regional partners that enforcing an immediate disarmament for Hamas was unrealistic. Israeli leaders had made disarming Hamas a pre-condition for approving reconstruction efforts, but the U.S. now appears to be prioritizing rebuilding infrastructure and restoring civilian life. Under the changed posture, the United States is instead pushing for a phased approach: start reconstruction and stabilize Gaza first, then tackle the harder question of military control later. The move responds to mounting humanitarian urgency and pressure to show progress on the ground.

Anthropic, a ChatGPT competitor, announced this week that it disrupted a large-scale hacking campaign that it attributes to a Chinese state-sponsored group. The campaign, discovered in mid-September, used AI to automate much of the operation. According to the company, the attackers manipulated Claude’s “agentic” capabilities—getting the system to act autonomously rather than simply respond to commands—to break into nearly 30 global targets. The victims included technology firms, financial institutions, chemical manufacturers and government agencies. Anthropic said the hacking group used so-called “jailbreaking” techniques on Claude that allowed it to bypass internal safeguards. Once inside, the AI executed phishing, network infiltration and data extraction with limited human oversight. While the company detected and halted the campaign early, it views it as a watershed moment for cybersecurity. The idea that an AI system can run large parts of a cyber-espionage operation marks a sharp shift in how threats might evolve. This event raises urgent questions for every business that uses AI agents or cloud-based models. If one system can be bent into attack mode, many more could follow—and the automated scale of such threats could outpace traditional defenses.

President Trump’s much-publicised peace proposal for the Gaza Strip has hit a major hurdle as dozens of Hamas fighters remain trapped in tunnel networks inside southern Gaza. U.S. and Israeli officials are locked in disagreement over whether these militants should be granted safe-passage under the agreement. Mediators report the number of fighters ranges from about 100 to 200, located in a zone under Israeli control near the town of Rafah. Hamas leaders insist their fighters won’t surrender. Meanwhile Israeli authorities say permitting safe exit would be politically unacceptable. The stalemate has rippled into implementation plans. Trump’s 20-point roadmap calls for disarming Hamas, releasing hostages, and ending the war. But the trapped fighters issue now threatens to derail a key phase. Israel’s security concerns and Hamas’s refusal to disarm are core obstacles.

The federal government reopened after a 43-day shutdown, the longest in U.S. history. President Trump signed the funding bill late Wednesday, bringing most agencies back to work. The legislation covers operations through January and restores paychecks for hundreds of thousands of federal employees who were unpaid during the impasse. Officials say most services, including benefit programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, will resume in the coming days. Some systems had paused or run at reduced levels during the shutdown. Agencies are now working to clear backlogs and resume full operations. For federal workers who went without pay, the back-pay provisions mean wages will arrive soon — though the exact timing depends on each agency’s payroll system. Travel services, application processing and other public-facing operations are expected to ramp up steadily. The shutdown had widespread effects: federal workers missed paychecks, food-aid programs were disrupted, and airports and national parks saw staffing issues. Now that funding is restored, those interruptions begin to ease.

The Russian government announced that it is ready to resume direct peace negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul. A senior Russian diplomat said Moscow has previously laid out proposals — including online working groups — and is willing to meet “at any moment.”Ukraine, however, has not responded positively to those initiatives so far. The talks between the two sides have been stalled since their last session in Istanbul in July.Turkey has reiterated that the Istanbul venue remains open and available for future discussions. Russia said the “ball is in Ukraine’s court.”Renewed dialogue could open pathways toward prisoner exchanges, humanitarian relief, or even an eventual cease-fire. The next move now depends on Kyiv.

President Trump said that the United States would hit an economic and national-security disaster if the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against his sweeping tariffs. He warned the court could require the U.S. government to refund billions in duties if those tariffs are struck down. He said his plan includes issuing a $2,000 payment to lower- and middle-income Americans using tariff revenues, and using the rest to reduce national debt. He pointed to recent court hearings where justices questioned whether the tariffs exceeded his emergency-powers authority. Trump said estimates of required refunds are too low and that “there would be an economic disaster” if he lost the case. The court’s ruling could reshape U.S. trade policy and affect government revenue, debt levels, and the cost of goods for households.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to cut its key interest rate again in December, driven by signs of a softening U.S. job market. According to a recent poll, about 80% of economists anticipate a 25-basis-point cut at the December meeting.In recent weeks, private-sector surveys have reported employer layoffs and sluggish hiring, raising concerns that the labor market is losing steam. At the same time, inflation measures are inching closer to the Fed’s target, which gives policymakers more room to ease.Despite this consensus, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has cautioned that a rate cut in December is not guaranteed, citing conflicting views among committee members and delays in key economic data caused by the government shutdown.Markets are already reacting: the dollar has slipped slightly and Treasury yields have edged lower in anticipation of looser monetary policy.A December cut would mark a further shift from fighting inflation to bolstering employment and growth—and could change borrowing costs for consumers and businesses heading into next year.

Researchers at the University of California San Diego discovered that a broken connection between two gut-immune proteins plays a central role in Crohn’s disease. The team found that a protein called girdin must bind to the gene product of NOD2 to keep gut immune cells balanced. When that bond breaks, inflammation takes over. Using artificial intelligence, scientists mapped more than 50 genes in intestinal immune cells and observed how NOD2 mutations disrupt the link to girdin. In lab tests, mice missing girdin developed intense gut inflammation and showed major changes in their gut microbes. It’s the first time researchers have shown how a long-known Crohn’s gene drives inflammation through a specific protein partner. It opens the door to treatments that restore this bond instead of broadly suppressing the immune system. The discovery could lead to more precise and less disruptive therapies for people living with Crohn’s disease.

President Trump announced that Kazakhstan will join the Abraham Accords, extending the Israel-normalization pact outside its usual region. He said Kazakhstan is the “first country of my second term” to sign on. Kazakhstan already has full diplomatic ties with Israel, but this move formalizes their membership in the Accords framework. The announcement came during a summit in Washington with Kazakh President Kassym‑Jomart Tokayev and other Central Asian leaders. U.S. officials described the step as largely symbolic, but said it signals broader diplomatic momentum for the Accords beyond the Middle East. By bringing Kazakhstan—situated in Central Asia and far from the Gaza or Arab-Israeli arenas—the Accords show a new geographic reach. For Israel and the U.S., it means a fresh diplomatic partner and expanded cooperation in trade, technology and regional strategy.

Researchers have reviewed multiple studies and found growing evidence that the bacteria in your gut may influence how well you sleep. Using data from recent trials, the review reveals that people with sleep issues—such as insomnia or apnea—often show altered gut-microbe profiles compared with those who sleep well. The scientists noted that certain microbial strains appear less abundant in sleep-impaired individuals, and that these changes may affect inflammation and the nervous system during sleep. While it’s too early to say that gut bacteria-fixing treatments will cure sleep disorders, this link opens a fresh area for investigation. Improving diet and gut health may play a role in better rest.